The 2019 Aurora Pride Parade is back on, if organizers can reach their fundraising goal in the next couple of weeks.

That was Mayor Richard Irvin’s announcement at his press briefing Tuesday. He followed that with the admonition, “now the work begins.”

That’s because Indivisible Aurora, the non-profit that sponsors the Pride Parade, has two weeks to raise about $17,000 to make the planned two-day event happen June 8 and 9.

Last week, Indivisible Aurora announced it would cancel the 2019 event — which was to follow up on the 2018 Pride Parade, which was the first to take place in the city’s history — because the cost would be too great.

The organization said the city’s new special events ordinance that forces private entities to pay for security and other costs for private parades and events made the cost prohibitive.

The organization said it had about a $17,000 shortfall. The group would need to pay the city about $27,000 to hold the event, officials said. Indivisible Aurora has other operational costs too.

Also last week, Irvin announced the city had tried to work with Indivisible Aurora to cut costs and save the event. Irvin said Tuesday that the Indivisible Aurora board met and reconsidered its cancellation of the event.

The mayor said the city informed the organization of the availability of neighborhood assistance grants for such events. The city was able to grant Indivisible Aurora $3,000 from that program. Also, the non-profit Aurora Downtown group said it could donate $1,500 toward the event, and might be able to find other ways to help the group.

In addition, the city will help with publicity for the fund-raising effort.

Chuck Adams, Indivisible Aurora director, said it was “the ferocity and sense of ownership people had for this parade” that convinced the group’s board to keep trying to raise the money.

He said the organization will accept checks at its address, 3015 E. New York St., Aurora, for the next two weeks. The organization also has reopened its GoFundMe online campaign for the 2019 Pride Parade.

“We’re going to make this a success,” Adams said. “It will be bigger than it was last year.”

Last year, Indivisible Aurora paid about $7,000 of the about $24,000 the event cost.